Chương 6
“I think she wanted me to tell you something.”
“What?”
Daniel held her hand.
“She wanted you to know she never stopped fighting for you.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“She promised she would come back.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“I know.”
The girl looked at him.
“Did you know my mommy?”
Daniel took a breath.
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Were you her friend?”
Daniel looked at her.
A small smile appeared.
“I was more than that.”
Lily waited.
Daniel squeezed her hand gently.
“I was someone who loved her.”
The little girl studied him.
Then she asked the question he had been afraid to hear.
“Are you my daddy?”
Daniel looked at her.
For years, he had wanted answers.
Now that he had them, he realized the answer was not something he needed to prove.
It was something he needed to protect.
“Yes.”
His voice was quiet.
“I am.”
Lily stared at him.
Then slowly, carefully, she moved closer.
Daniel wrapped his arms around her.
And for the first time since Amelia disappeared, he felt like something broken inside him had finally found its way home.
But outside the hospital room, a man in a dark coat watched from the end of the hallway.
He held a photograph in his hand.
The same photograph Amelia had left behind.
His eyes moved from Daniel to Lily.
Then he whispered to himself.
“So she found him.”
He folded the photograph.
“And now both of them have to disappear.”
“And now both of them have to disappear.”
The man walked away before anyone noticed him.
But Daniel had already felt something change.
He did not know why.
Maybe it was instinct.
Maybe it was the years he spent surviving alone, learning that danger rarely announced itself.
It simply appeared.
A shadow in the wrong place.
A silence that lasted too long.
A person watching when everyone else looked away.
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
The stranger was gone.
“Is something wrong?”
Victor’s voice pulled him back.
Daniel turned.
“There was someone outside.”
Victor immediately became alert.
“What did he look like?”
Daniel described him.
Dark coat.
Middle-aged.
Calm expression.
Victor’s face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“You know him.”
Victor did not answer.
That was enough.
Daniel stood.
“Who is he?”
Victor walked toward the door and checked the hallway himself.
After several seconds, he returned.
“He is one of the people I was worried about.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
The little girl was still holding his hand.
“Then we move her.”
Victor nodded.
“Immediately.”
Daniel frowned.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
Victor stopped.
“No?”
“She is not a package you move from place to place.”
Victor’s expression hardened slightly.
“She is in danger.”
“I know.”
“Then understand what that means.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“It means she needs stability.”
Victor stared at him.
Daniel continued.
“She woke up in a warehouse.”
“She thought everyone was going to leave her.”
“She does not need another place where strangers tell her what to do.”
The words hit Victor harder than expected.
Because they were true.
Victor had spent years protecting people through control.
Security.
Rules.
Fear.
But Daniel understood something he had forgotten.
Protection was not only about keeping danger away.
It was about making someone feel safe.
Victor looked at Lily.
The girl was watching them quietly.
Waiting.
Finally, Victor nodded.
“Then what do you suggest?”
Daniel was surprised.
He expected an argument.
Not agreement.
“We need to know who betrayed you.”
Victor looked at him.
“And how do you plan to do that?”
Daniel looked at the folder.
“The same way Amelia did.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Daniel opened the documents again.
“She left clues.”
Victor moved closer.
“You think she knew this would happen?”
“I think she knew enough to prepare.”
Together, they studied the papers.
There were names.
Dates.
Company records.
Photographs.
Daniel noticed something strange.
Several pages had markings.
Not random.
Patterns.
Amelia had circled certain names repeatedly.
Victor recognized one immediately.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
Victor pointed.
“This name.”
Daniel read it.
Richard Vale.
“Who is he?”
Victor’s expression became cold.
“He is one of the most powerful businessmen in the city.”
“And?”
Victor looked at the papers.
“And he is someone Amelia believed was connected to everything.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Everything?”
Victor nodded.
“The money transfers.”
“The disappearances.”
“The people who wanted her silent.”
Daniel looked at the name again.
“Why would someone like that care about Lily?”
Victor answered quietly.
“Because Lily is proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Victor looked at him.
“That Richard Vale’s empire was built on lies.”
Before Daniel could respond, the lights in the hospital hallway flickered.
Both men noticed.
Victor immediately moved toward the door.
Daniel stepped closer to Lily.
The room became quiet.
Too quiet.
Then the sound came.
A soft click.
The sound of a door locking.
Daniel’s heart tightened.
Victor reached for his phone.
“No signal.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Is that normal?”
“No.”
The emergency lights turned on.
The hospital suddenly felt different.
Less like a place of healing.
More like a place where someone was hunting.
Victor looked at Daniel.
“Stay with Lily.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“As if I was going anywhere.”
Victor gave a small nod.
Then he left the room.
Daniel stood beside the bed.
He watched the doorway.
His entire body was tense.
Lily noticed.
“Are they coming?”
Daniel looked down.
He wanted to say no.
He wanted to protect her from fear.
But he remembered what it felt like when adults lied to him.
So he told her the truth.
“Maybe.”
Her eyes became frightened.
Daniel squeezed her hand.
“But I’m here.”
She looked at him.
“Like before?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t leave?”
Daniel looked directly into her eyes.
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Controlled.
Daniel moved in front of her.
The door opened.
A hospital employee stepped inside.
At first glance, everything seemed normal.
White coat.
May you like
Badge.
Medical folder.
